MTV: What video first turned you on and made you decide that you wanted to do this for a living?

Siega: "Sabotage" by the Beastie Boys. Again, being a rock fan, I was a Beastie Boys fan, and I've always waned to be a filmmaker. I saw that, and I thought it was a perfect marriage of music and concept. As far as a music video goes, I think it's pretty close to perfect.

MTV: You can definitely see that influence, at least in terms of tone, in your work.

Siega: I'd say my first couple of videos, I definitely used that video as a benchmark for what direction I wanted to go in. There's a certain irreverence and sarcasm in it that you don't see in a whole lot of videos. I'm not a huge fan of the truly stylized esoteric music videos. There are some great videos that have been done, but that I just look at and they're more like works of art; they're not really filmmaking to me. I see filmmaking as more of a traditional storytelling [device]. Evoke something, whether it's laughter or sadness or some emotion. And there are certain videos I look at, and they're beautiful and they're very stylized, but they're not the direction I want to go in.

MTV: Were you surprised at how well received the video for Blink-182's "All The Small Things" was, both here at MTV and among fans, given the fact that it lampoons and pokes fun at so many artists?

Siega: A little. We never intended to insult anyone, so I never expected any backlash, but I was a little surprised it went over so well. I thought maybe the fans of those bands on "TRL" would kind of react negatively toward it, but that didn't happen. I think we had the opposite effect. In some ways, I think that that video put Blink at that sort of pop level with those other bands. We were making fun of them, but it kind of became [what it was making fun of].

MTV: Since the release of that clip, have you come across Nigel Dick or Wayne Isham or any of the other guys whose work you parody in that clip?

Siega: In the music video industry, there's an organization called the MVPA [Music Video Production Association], and every year there's a big awards ceremony. It's right before the MTV [VMAs], and recently we were up for the Best Pop Video, which we won. When I went up to accept it, all these guys were in the room, and I basically thanked them for being my storyboards. I've joked around. I've talked to Nigel Dick just in passing about it. I think they'd be flattered that someone is parodying something they've done. [Their work] made that much of an impact that it needed to be poked fun of. I'd be flattered.

MTV: When did the phone start ringing off the hook for you? Was it after the "All The Small Things" [RealVideo] svideo hit?

Siega: What's crazy is I've been following music video directors for a long time, and I would see guys that were working a lot, and as I was coming up, I would try to see what it is that they have. There's either some signature look or something that they do that [bands] want, and when "All The Small Things" came out, the phone started to ring and we got pretty busy. But in some ways, because it was a parody, I got locked into... people would call if they wanted something funny. It hurt a little bit, because there would be some music I'd want to videos for, and they would say, "Well, I don't know if you can do something dark." But the phone really started to ring after [Papa Roach's] "Last Resort" [RealVideo] came out, because then I think it opened up my reel and showed a little broader scope.

MTV: Moving on to the Video Music Awards, you're up for Video Of The Year for "All The Small Things." If it were up to you, what would be your choice for Video Of The Year?

Siega: My favorite video of last year was... there were two. Probably the Blur video, "Coffee & TV" [RealVideo], and the Chemical Brothers video ("Let Forever Be" [RealVideo]). Those are my two favorite videos for last year. I've got to say, though, the 'NSYNC video ("Bye Bye Bye" [RealVideo]) is pretty damn good. I saw the making of that, and I was so impressed. I know what goes into making those videos, and sometimes just because of what you're doing, you're selling a product, the concepts get watered down and it's hard to execute everything. I think Wayne did an amazing job on that video. I think it's great. I think it's a really good video.

MTV: I'm going through the categories trying to find one that you're not nominated in to get your prediction. How about Best Dance Video? You've got Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, 'NSYNC, Ricky Martin, and Sisqo...

Siega: In that category, I think Jennifer Lopez ("Waiting For Tonight" [RealVideo]) should win. It's a great dance clip. I'll watch that and want to get up and dance. I think it's a great video.

MTV: What about Best Rock Video? That's got Creed, Kid Rock, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Metallica, and Rage Against The Machine...

Siega: If I wasn't nominated, I don't pay attention. Oh, Rage Against The Machine ("Sleep Now In The Fire" [RealVideo]). That's the Michael Moore video? Again, there's a video that speaks to me in terms of the tone. It's more in line with something I would have done. It's not a huge set. It's all very simple. I love the concept. I love the idea of the whole documentary feel of it. A lot of people I talked to weren't that into it, and I just thought it was fantastic. So I hope that wins.

When you look at music videos, too many of them go to Central Casting and they surround the band with beautiful people who are paid to be into the band. The one thing I try to do in my videos is surround the band with their fans. I'll always cast the video off of their Web site, and I love the fact that you see people on the street that are just into Rage going off or just supporting them at that moment. There are even shots of cops who may be listening to Rage Against The Machine at home. They're there to do a job, but they're still kind of bobbing their heads and into the whole fiasco. I just love that. I love that whole feel of it.

MTV: You've said that you're very much into the bands that you work with as a fan and admirer of their work, so how satisfying is it to help a band like Blink-182 or Papa Roach or P.O.D. break through to mainstream audiences?

Siega: There's a tremendous amount of satisfaction. I've worked with all those bands twice. When I first worked with Papa Roach, it was the day before they were leaving for their first tour in a van, and when we did "Broken Home" they were about to leave on tour with Korn on a bus, and they're playing arenas. Knowing that what I did had some part in making that happen, there's tremendous satisfaction, especially when the band acknowledges it.

I think bands know that today music videos and MTV are a huge part of how they do. I don't know if that's totally fair or right, but when it works it works, and being a part of that is amazing. I love the fact that when kids hear "What's My Age Again?" [RealVideo] they immediately think of the band running around naked, or when they hear "All The Small Things" they think of the video. It's nice to be a part of that.